Capture decor in its best light

Holiday displays can be tricky to photograph as they combine bright spots against dark background

Bethany: " Is your house on fire, Clark?"

Comment

By Clifford Oto

recordnet.com

By Clifford Oto

Posted Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By Clifford Oto

Posted Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Bethany: " Is your house on fire, Clark?"

Clark: "No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."

- From "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989)

Christmas is the season of lights, and almost every neighborhood has at least one house that does it up right. Most lights are up for only a few weeks to a month at most.

A pet peeve of ours is when people leave them up well after the holidays are over. My family and I usually put up our Christmas lights the weekend after Thanksgiving (we're running a little late this year), and take them down around New Year's Day. I guess it's only natural to want to have some beauty and light to color and warm winter's early nights. It's also natural people would want to record the festive mood in a photo. The problem is the pictures don't always capture the beauty of the lights. Some are under- or over-exposed, while others can be blurry. There are a few tips that you can use to preserve the spirit of the season.

Invariably you'll be shooting when it's fairly dark, which means a slow shutter speed. Most of the blurriness comes from camera shake or movement of the camera. You may think that you're holding the camera steady, but it's very difficult to do so. Every little bit of movement is magnified the slower the shutter speed. Whether you're using a DSLR or a point-and-shoot, a good sturdy tripod provides a good base to help keep your camera still. (If you're using a phone camera, you may have to modify it or the tripod - as easy as using some adhesive tape of Velcro - to hold it still.)

You can use a high ISO (1600 to 6400) so that you can actually use a shutter speed high enough to hand-hold the camera, but the tradeoff is added noise in the picture. By using a lower ISO (100 to 400) the noise levels are negligible.

An aperture of around f/8 or f/11 or so will give you a good depth of field (especially if you have elements in both the foreground and background you want in focus). Your shutter speeds will be slow, about two to 10 seconds (depending on your ISO and the intensity of the lights), but if you're using the aforementioned tripod, it shouldn't be a problem.

What you don't want is to have the lights as little pinpricks of color. Overexposing the lights a bit gives them that holiday glow and will help to illuminate the house and give it more definition and detail. Go ahead and "chimp" or check the image in the camera's monitor to confirm your exposures.

The flash will be either ineffective (if you're too far away from the lights) or wash out the lights (if you're too close). Either way, leave it in your camera bag or at home. If it's built-in to your camera, turn it off. (The one exception is if you're taking a picture with people in it and using the lights as a backdrop.)

Shooting just after sunset, or in the so-called "blue hour," will help give some detail and color in the sky. If you miss it, don't worry, it will just mean that the sky will be an inky black, which some people may even prefer.

It can be cold this time of year, so dress warmly and go with a friend or a family member. There's safety in numbers and it's nice to have someone to pass the time with during the long exposures. They can even help you lug around your tripod.

So, whether it's on your own house or another, go out and capture the lights so you can remember and reminisce without having to keep them up long after they've worn out their welcome.

Contact Record photographer Clifford Oto at (209) 546-8263 or coto@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/otoblog.